I Need Some Help with a Substrate Problem

[aquaventions]

I would like to use 3M's T Grade ColorQuartz in my new 100 gallon that I've custom ordered from the aquarium builder. The tank will have three 2" drains along the the back wall, no overflow.

The T grade is crushed quartz covered with ceramic. It's about 12 mesh in size.

I know I need to raise the drains above the tank floor so I don't lose all the substrate. The problem is that I do not know how much above the ColorQuartz I need to have the inlet to the drains. The overall flow rate in the tank will be 10.

Does anyone know how to figure out this problem?

 

[HarleyK]

Howdy,

3M Colorquartz is amazingly heavy. My outlet is ~2'' above the substrate. Your flow rate of 10 is not very helpful. But at the end, only trying it out will give you the answer that applies to your conditions.

HarleyK

 

[aquaventions]

Howdy,

3M Colorquartz is amazingly heavy. My outlet is ~2'' above the substrate. Your flow rate of 10 is not very helpful. But at the end, only trying it out will give you the answer that applies to your conditions.

HarleyK

Thank you for the information. The flow rate is 10 overall, but I'm hoping the flow rate of each of the three drains will be 3 1/3.

What is your flow rate?

 

[kallmond]

Do you mean your tank will turn over 10 times per hour?

Flow rate is usually measured in gallons per hour. 10 gallons per hour is a pretty slow trickle.

 

[aquaventions]

Do you mean your tank will turn over 10 times per hour?

Flow rate is usually measured in gallons per hour. 10 gallons per hour is a pretty slow trickle.

I mean turning the entire volume of the tank over 10 times per hour. So with my 100 gallon tank this would be 1,000 gph.

 

[aquaventions]

bump

 

[JakeH]

My tanks turn over closer to 12-14x per hour & I've never had an issue with my sand after the initial settling period. My intakes aren't quite that low, though. If you're worried about the intakes sucking up sand on start-up, you could put a sponge pre-filter over them to keep the grains out until the sand is all settled down (AC50 sponges work great, $3.99 for 3 at Petsmart). They may help clear some of the dust, too.

 

[aquaventions]

My tanks turn over closer to 12-14x per hour & I've never had an issue with my sand after the initial settling period. My intakes aren't quite that low, though. If you're worried about the intakes sucking up sand on start-up, you could put a sponge pre-filter over them to keep the grains out until the sand is all settled down (AC50 sponges work great, $3.99 for 3 at Petsmart). They may help clear some of the dust, too.

How low are your intakes? I have 70 and 30 micron pre-filters that should handle the start-up.